Should Sellers Have an Inspection Before Listing For Sale
Should a seller hire their own home inspector? Many homeowners will ask their real estate agent if getting their home inspected before they put it on the market is a good idea. In short, there are more good reasons for having an inspection than not.
As a seller, you know that buyers are going to need to have a home inspection conducted before they agree to purchase the property anyways, so what if you were to beat them to it?
Getting a pre-listing home inspection offers some advantages to sellers that may be overlooked. The biggest, of course, finding out the exact condition of the property you are selling.
Pros For Having an Inspection
1. You find out what condition your home is in.
One of the biggest fears of most sellers is that when a buyer does get the home inspected, something will be discovered that kills the sale. This concern is undoubtedly justified. The home inspection is often a point where sales fall apart – leaving the seller to pick up the pieces.
But as the seller, you don’t have to wait for the buyer’s inspection. You can have your own done, and get ahead of any issues before ever listing the property for sale.
By having a home inspection before hitting the market, you’ll find out the exact condition of your home. Team Olga partners with some of the most thorough inspectors in the Bay Area, so you can be confident no stone will be left unturned! Like any other business, there are those who are considered exceptionally thorough and others who are not. There is no point in having your home inspected if the home inspector only catches a fraction of the issues.
2. Pricing the home accurately is much easier.
Valuing the home appropriately is one of the most challenging parts of the sales process. It takes experience and skill to find the sweet spot – too high and buyers will stay away, too low and you miss out on money from the sale.
Team Olga has years of experience under our belt to make sure you will NET the most profit possible from the sale of your home. This is of course much harder to do if the state of the home is unclear. Having an inspection before your house goes on the market ensures that you have all the facts, which makes setting the list price much easier.
3. Minimize stress.
Not knowing if there is something wrong with your home adds a lot of stress to the sales process. Selling your home is never easy, to begin with. Worrying that the sale will fall through because of something that turns up during an inspection adds a thick layer of anxiety to your life that won’t go away until the sale closes.
Fortunately, you can wipe away that anxiety pretty easily. You just have to get your own inspection before listing. Something may or may not need to be fixed. A pre-listing inspection will let you know either way. By getting the inspection done, you can feel much more confident about the current condition of your home.
4. You can make repairs.
If the inspection uncovers any significant defects, you will have the chance to repair them ahead of time and get even more money for your home. You would only have until closing to get the repairs done if you wait until the buyer’s inspection, which can cause a roadblock in some transactions.
The limited time frame tends to put sellers on edge and leave them scrambling to get everything fixed in time. With a pre-listing inspection, you set your own schedule for repairs. There is no rush to list the property until you have made sure the home is in good shape.
You’ll be putting your home on the market with the confidence you’ve corrected large problems.
5. Less likelihood of negotiations.
Quite often buyers will use the home inspection as a point of asking for additional concessions. They will use the home inspection as a means to renegotiate the sale. That’s because they know that there will probably be one or more issues that will come up warranting reconsideration of the price.
Not many people enjoy it and for some, it can become extremely stressful. You’ll find this to be especially true if the buyer and seller don’t see eye to eye… which happens more often than not. A pre-listing inspection helps you avoid the typical interactions that follow the buyer’s inspection. Both you and the buyer will have already been aware of any issues and all repairs from the beginning of your interaction.
6. Help improve the buyer’s confidence.
Anytime you can hand a buyer an inspection report that details the present condition of a home; you’re probably going to make them feel more confident about the purchase.
Buyers naturally are skeptical about a home’s condition until their home inspection is completed. For many folks purchasing a home will be the most money they will ever spend on a single Buyers will calculate what they can afford now combined with upkeep in the future.
If a buyer suspects that the house might have hidden problems, the offer he or she makes could reflect that. An inspection done before listing for sale can help eliminate much of the doubt about the home. Knowing that a professional has already looked over the home allows the buyer to make a confident offer.
7. Make your real estate agent’s job easier.
Real Estate agents are used to selling homes without pre-listing inspections. Of course, most would prefer it if sellers did get a pre-listing home inspection. Knowing the actual state of the home allows the Realtor to do a better job for the client.
The agent can price the home more accurately, can negotiate more confidently, and can attract buyers more easily because buyers like homes that have been inspected before listing. Ultimately, making the Realtor’s job easier brings financial benefits to the seller.
The home inspection is the most prominent hurdle to clear in a real estate transaction. Once that is done, many will breathe a sigh of relief.
Thinking it may be time to sell? We’re here to help! Contact us today 🙂